The Journal of Health Psychology has recently published a study by Linus Peitz and Marsha Newsome that examines ways to improve mental health in prisons and the positive effects of building social relationships between prisoners. These support networks have been shown to reduce the risks of mental health issues and re-offending. The research specifically focuses on the Twinning Project, an initiative that introduces a structured football (soccer) program into UK-based correctional facilities. The researchers found that the activities of the Twinning Project produced substantial benefits for the participants, including higher levels of wellbeing and satisfaction of psychological needs.
BACKGROUND
Numerous studies have demonstrated that incarcerated individuals experience high levels of mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression. This has led to higher-than-average rates of attempted suicide and a higher likelihood of recidivism for justice-involved individuals, which has prompted further consideration of methods that may alleviate these risks.
Social cure theory proclaims that values, attitudes, and behaviors – an individual’s social identity – is constructed largely due to their sense of belonging within certain social groups. This theory forms a basis for the adoption of sports-focused programs within correctional settings, which offer structure and social engagement opportunities for incarcerated individuals. Assessment of programs offering yoga, dance, and rugby participation in prisons have indicated a link to positive mental wellbeing and lower rates of recidivism.
The Twinning Project pairs professional UK football clubs with local prisons to provide training in entry-level coaching and refereeing, with the aim of improving self-esteem and employability for participants. Candidates for participation must apply of their own accord and meet the following criteria:
- Individuals must demonstrate minimum levels of fitness and literacy
- Individuals must not have committed a sexual offense
- Individuals designated as having lower Incentive and Earned Privilege (IEP) status may not participate
- Individuals must be within 1-2 years of release
The program is delivered to cohorts of 10-15 prisoners, led by a team that includes at least one prison officer and one member of the football club’s coaching staff.
“A recent meta-analysis…evaluated the overall impact of sport-based programmes, showing moderate effects on crime-related outcomes (including reoffence rates, self-reported behaviour and attitudes related to crime) and large effects on psychological outcomes (including self-esteem, stress-related burdens and depressive symptoms.)”
Programs are designed to last for at least five sessions over a span of 1-12 weeks.
METHODOLOGY
The researchers sought to determine if involvement in Twinning Project activities led to:
- Improvement to health and wellbeing
- Improvement to overall life attitudes
- Stronger social bonds
The social cure theory was further explored through an assessment of correlation between positive outcomes and social connection.
Sample Size and Characteristics
Since data was collected via the Upshot MEL (monitoring, evaluation, and learning) system, all institutions selected for study required staff who had received training on the platform. A total of 18 UK prisons participating in the Twinning Project program were identified, representing an initial sample of 316 individual cases. A lack of pre-treatment or post-treatment data at the conclusion of the study reduced the final sample set to 164 participants across 11 prisons. All subjects were male, and 21.2% identified as having a disability. Additional demographics broke down as follows:
Age Groups
- Under 25 – 18.9%
- 25 - 29 – 17.7%
- 30 - 39 – 39.6%
- 40 - 49 – 12.8%
- Over 50 – 3.6%
- Unknown – 1.8%
Race
- White – 72.9%
- Black – 7.9%
- Asian – 3.7%
- Mixed – 9.8%
- Other or Declined to Identify – 6.2%
Process
The subjects of the study were asked to complete two surveys administered at the first Twinning Project session and the final session. These surveys were adapted from a design by His Majesty’s Prison Service (HMPS) with additional metrics added by the researchers to measure:
- Physical health,including general wellness and level of activity
- Emotional wellbeing, including factors such as anxiety, happiness, and meeting of psychological needs
- Life satisfaction, including feelings of confidence in one’s own abilities, optimism for the future, and willingness to work on behaviors that had led to their criminal offense
- Social relations, which examines the identification prisoners have with fellow inmates and prison guards in comparison to their cohorts in the Twinning Project
The survey made use of multiple measurement frameworks, including the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale (WEMBS) to assess wellbeing and both the Postmes, et al single-item scale and Swann et al pictorial scale to measure social relations.
KEY FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS
Initial observations of collected data from completed cases indicated an overall positive shift across most measures, with significant positive changes for life satisfaction, psychological need satisfaction, and confidence in self-efficacy. Social identification with the Twinning Project also increased throughout the program, although identification with other prisoners and prison guards showed little deviation. This growth in identification with the Twinning Project also seemed to correlate with growth in need satisfaction, although no other measures showed similar results. Participants with disabilities expressed higher levels of life satisfaction after the program’s completion.
The researchers also used the Hayes Process Macro for SPSS to see how indirect effects of a shift in identity would affect emotional wellbeing, and noted an increase in future optimism and happiness, as well as a decrease in anxiety.
“We see the Twinning Project as an opportunity for groups of participants who are stigmatised or otherwise excluded from mainstream curricula to participate in a meaningful way. These are groups not actively encouraged to participate, such as those with a history of trauma, with experience of the care leaver system or with poor behaviour in prison.”
CONCLUSIONS
The Twinning Project’s focus on football – one of the world’s most popular group activities – allows the program a greater degree of appeal compared to similar interventions. Based on this study, the researchers stated that the impact of the Twinning Project has been especially positive for emotional wellbeing and life satisfaction among participants. They also concluded that the relationship between feelings of identification with the program and improved optimism, life satisfaction, and efficacy showed evidence for the veracity of social cure theory.
The researchers did note, however, the limitations present in this study. Due to the selection criteria of the program, the researchers were unable to establish a control group from the general population and extrapolate any findings beyond the sample set. Institutional differences and a lack of digital data infrastructure also hindered the capacity to link data across sources. Additionally, although the Twinning Project is designed to serve both male and female prisoners, at this time no female participants were included, which leaves a gap in the study’s understanding of unique health needs for each population. The researchers also express the need for a complementary study that looks at how sustainable the effects of the program are for participants after release.
Despite these challenges, the study illustrates the promise of programs like the Twinning Project in improving the wellbeing of incarcerated individuals, and offers a model to follow for other correctional facilities who seek to deliver similar impact.
Source Article: "Sport-based interventions and health in prisons: The impact of Twinning Project on prisoner wellbeing and attitudes" https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13591053241272188
Note:
On a yearly basis, the ICPA Practice Transfer Advisory Committee chooses one or two examples of exciting practices that have been highlighted during the ICPA Annual Conference. The Committee then supports and connects jurisdictions where there is interest in replicating that practice. The Twinning Project was one of the first projects selected for implementing the idea of intentional practice transfer.
